tdc and governor sarah palin go running
Ok. Not really.
BUT, as a bit of lighthearted fare in the midst of the health care hootenanny and the upcoming cap ‘n tax crap, I thought I would share some amusement from my morning jog. And by “amusement” I mean “wow, it’s so sad how my life is totally wrapped up in politics that I should really keep this story to myself.” Anyway…
This morning I did a short 30-minute jaunt through the sunny (blinding) warm (40s) streets of my neighborhood so that I could feel less like a sloth as I settled in work on the laptop all day. I haven’t been running as much the last few weeks, so even on this short trip, I could feel my legs getting heavier as I made my way down the winding sidewalk back towards my house - about 200 yards away. I started doing “that thing” where you mentally tell yourself that you’ll just run to that next crack in the sidewalk, or that tree, or that pile of dog poop that the owner really should have picked up...
Apparently, though, I should have set my sights on something a bit closer. Like, whatever was under my feet. Unbeknownst to me, a renegade patch of dirt (filled with lovely foliage later in the season) was about to interrupt the concrete on which I traveled and, sure enough, as soon as the terrain changed…yep - I bit it!
And, I even heard myself grunt…
Luckily, there were no dog-walkers on the path at that moment to point and laugh. And luckily, it was still cool enough that I had on tights and light gloves so when I hit the dirt, there was no danger of permanent scarring. Ego aside.
Anyway, the reason I am telling you this on my politics-related blog and not sharing it with my friends on my non-political Facebook wall is because as soon as I got up, I started laughing thinking about this quote from the good Governor:
…My favorite thing in the world is to run on hot, dusty roads. I don’t get enough of that in Alaska, so I was in heaven. And there were plenty of hills, so I knew my thighs were going to just throb and my lungs were going to burn, and that’s what I crave.
I like running alone, and having the Secret Service with me added a little bit of pressure. I’m thinking I gotta have good form and can’t be hyperventilating and can’t be showing too much pain, and that adds a little more pressure on you as you’re trying to be out there enjoying your run. Then I fell coming down a hill and was so stinkin’ embarrassed that a golf cart full of Secret Service guys had to pull up beside me. My hands just got torn up and I was dripping blood. In the debate you could see a big fat ugly Band-Aid on my right hand. I have a nice war wound now as a reminder of that fall in the palm of my right hand. For much of the campaign, shaking hands was a little bit painful…I made those guys swear to secrecy. And I probably should have gotten a couple stitches…
So, you see? Cool people fall when they run. And the REALLY cool people get up all bloody and then refuse medical attention!
the design conservative has not yet reached such esteem, but sincerely hopes that today was the first step to achieving this lofty goal of “really cool-ness”. In the meantime, I can only hope that the dog days of summer and the subsequent shedding of tights and gloves will lead to my own running wounds that, someday, will be compared to those of our first Madame President.
But until that day comes: seriously, people - watch where you’re going…
- tdc
*Read Governor Palin’s Runner’s World interview - via Runnersworld.com
First, she scribes a Facebook note regarding the health care debacle, then she tops of the day with a spirited chat with Sean Hannity. Governor Palin appears ready to rumble. All you wishy-washy politicos…consider yourselves put on notice!
- tdc
governor sarah palin: faith, hope and love of country
Yesterday, the United States House of Representatives voted to approve the Senate health care bill that has been winding its way through the legislature for months. As a result, our country has been cast down an uncertain path that leaves many of us apprehensive about the future stability of our nation.
The health care debate has been personal for all of us, albeit in different ways, because health care is personal. Every citizen is at the mercy of the system in which he finds himself. It can takes months or years to find a health care provider with whom one is comfortable, and the idea that the government might somehow impede this relationship is daunting to say the least. Thus, the intricacies of the health care bill(s) have been the subject of passionate debate on both sides.
The difference between those two sides, of course, is that the opposition of (primarily) Republican and Independent representatives was based upon sound economic and practical reasoning, while those in favor of the health care overhaul almost uniformly resorted to tales of “a woman in my district” or “a man who wrote me a letter” to make their arguments. All of these individuals were said to be at death’s door with an ill-intentioned, scalpel-wielding doctor on one side of the hospital bed, and an Armani-suit clad insurance agent on the other.
Needless to say, many of us found ourselves frustrated with the superficial nature of the debate and, now that the bill has passed, we have awakened the morning after, wondering where to go from here.
A New Day and Renewed Faith
Thankfully, Governor Sarah Palin has, once again, stepped in to offer guidance, inspiration, and optimism - characteristic traits that have endeared her to millions of people across the country. Today, on her Facebook page, Governor Palin described the current state of things, writing:
We’ve been reminded many times that elections have consequences. Yesterday we saw the consequence of voting for those who believe in “fundamentally transforming” America whether we want it or not. Yesterday they voted. In November, we get to vote. We won’t forget what we saw yesterday. Congress passed a bill while Americans said “no,” and thousands of everyday citizens even surrounded the Capitol Building to beg them not to do it. Has there ever been a more obvious exhibition of a detached and imperious government?
As usual, she succinctly spoke for millions of like-minded citizens who continually feel as if they have no voice in the halls of Congress or the White House. Having eloquently underlined the issue at hand, though, Governor Palin also demonstrated the grit and perseverance that have served her so well in her life and career [emphasis mine]:
Though they’d like us to forget, we will remember the corrupt deals, the corrupt process, the lack of transparency, the deceptive gimmicks to game the CBO score, and the utter disregard for the will of the American people. Elections have consequences, and we won’t forget those who promised to hold firm against government funding of abortion, but caved at the last minute in exchange for a non-binding executive order promised by the most pro-abortion president to ever occupy the White House.
All along we’ve said that we want real health care reform, but this isn’t it. We mustn’t be discouraged now. We must look to November when our goal will be to rebuke big government’s power grab, reject this unwanted “transformation” of America, and repeal dangerous portions of Obamacare that will bury us under more Big Government control.
This is just the beginning of our efforts to take back our country. Consider yesterday’s vote a clarion call and a spur to action. We will not let America sink into further debt without a fight. We will not abandon the American dream to government dependency, fewer freedoms and less opportunity. Change is made at the ballot box. If we work together, we can renew our optimistic pioneering spirit, revive our economy, and restore constitutional limits.
Stand tall, America. November is coming!
It is difficult to say whether Governor Palin is truly aware of the comfort and encouragement her voice - and pen - offer to disenchanted citizens across this country. Perhaps she does know. Or, as many of us believe, perhaps she simply says what is on her heart and happens to speak for all of us…because she is one of us.
On a day like today, when despair, exasperation, and anger could prevail, Governor Palin’s words are a welcome call to remember from wherest we came. The United States was built upon the fortitude and love of country that is so simply expressed by this woman whom many would like to call “Madame President” one day.
Let us heed her challenge and utilize the power of our collective voices and the privilege of our vote to restore the promise of our country. November is, indeed, coming…let’s be sure to be ready.
- tdc
*Photo courtesy www.floppingaces.com
When my grandfather was a doctor in South Wales, the local hospital proudly unveiled its first X-Ray machine. At the official opening ceremony, the mayor removed his chain and all other metallic objects to christen the device as its first ever “patient”. This was only intended as a publicity stunt. Unfortunately the inaugural X-Ray revealed a cancer somewhere in the mayor’s chest. They operated almost immediately but he was dead within a month.
As my grandfather wryly observed, he would have survived another five years without the operation.
One of the big unspoken topics of medicine is the proportion of deaths which are in some way caused by the treatment not the disease – the technical term is “iatrogenic”. Deaths as much or more the result of medical intervention as of any illness. Or entirely new illnesses that only happen as a result of prior treatment.
Rory Sutherland writes about advertising but manages to say quite a bit about the current healthcare debate - from the blog Campaign (July 1, 2009)
It’s a good read. You should take a few minutes and have a look - tdc
we listened and they lied
About two hours ago (at 1:18am EST), the United States Senate passed a motion to invoke cloture on the latest healthcare bill, moving it one step closer to final passage. The debate, which has raged on for days and weeks on end was full of ‘messaging’ on both sides. The Republicans wanted to make it clear that they had attempted to participate in the formulation of the bill, but were denied access and opportunity. The Democrats insisted that those ‘on the other side of the aisle’ had offered nothing of substance to the debate and were simply trying to stall, and ultimately, kill the bill for political reasons.
Typically, I make an earnest attempt to listen to both sides of a particular argument and hear the truth in what they are saying. In this case, I did so, but only heard ‘truth’ on one side.
The fact is, the Republicans were shut out of this debate and their attempts to play by the rules by offering amendments to the healthcare bill were rebuffed time and time again. Thus, one could say that about half of the country - those that might agree with many of the Republican proposals - were similarly shut out of the process that produced this massive legislation affecting one-sixth of our nation’s economy.
I prefer to trust people rather than distrust them. However, the obvious shenanigans that took place during the many hours of discussion on the healthcare issue have, to put it kindly, made me want to toss many of these people out on their ear! The back-room, closed-door, under-the-table dealings (see Michelle Malkin’s round-up) that have taken place over the last several weeks and months are unacceptable and unbefitting of our Republic.
The thing is, we, the citizens, realize that progress is made only when both sides are willing compromise on certain details, or the ‘means and methods’ used to reach common goals. In fact, most of us have to do a bit of this in our everyday lives in order to accomplish our work each day. Once again, though, our congressional ‘leaders’ are completely out of sync with The American People (even though they refer to us, for dramatic effect, quite often).
They obviously don’t care what we think. And, they don’t think us worthy to ‘debate’. They most certainly don’t think the forty senators we sent to D.C. to speak on our behalf are material to crafting the legislation they’ve decided to push through while we’re all out Christmas shopping.
Well, you know what, Senators? I’m through. Clearly, you’ve lost your way and our country has neither the time nor finances for you to find your way back to center. The 2010 electoral season gets going full-speed in a few weeks, and I, along with millions of other disheartened and disgusted citizens, plan to take back our capitol!
Our Republic is still - yes, still - the envy of much of the world. We would do well to respect it as much as those who risk their lives to reach its shores do. The House and Senate should be noble spaces in which great deeds are accomplished, and citizens’ lives are made better. But, in your care, it has become much less than that. Your political grandstanding, phony moral ‘outrage’, and disingenuous smearing of your colleagues is nothing short of pathetic.
You conducted this vote after minimal debate, and in the middle of the night. You hoped we might miss it. But, rest assured: we were watching and we were listening.
And we heard you when you lied.
- tdc
*Photo credits
Top Photo - UK Guardian
United States Capitol - learnnc.org
“Sarah Help!”
Yep, that about sums it up…
- tdc
